Inamabilis

I am asked frequently, “what is the greatest evil?” thinking it would be falling into pride or lust or envy or gluttony etc… but there is something far more sinister- there are forces and things in our world that cause people to believe they are unlovable, which is impossible to go through the process of confession/forgiveness/amendment, unlike pride or lust etc.  Forces that scream- you are worthless! And in my experience, these things are far worse than any other evil.  The darkness that cries you are unlovable causes despair, isolation, and removes good chunks of humanity from a soul. We humans (many times at a very young age) are put in situations where love is denied to us, and an existential question is forced- “why don’t they love or care about me?” and a conclusion must be formed, and many is the time when the conclusion is, “I am unlovable.” And this forms and shapes a person’s identity and is carried about dragging the soul into dark spaces, far from grace (the person doesn’t feel worthy of even God’s grace or that God could love them.)  This project explores that idea. Fort Pike is an abandoned fort that is crumbling and in many respects a great metaphor for the fort or prison people are placed in and must escape to overcome that dark voice screaming- unlovable! I hope this work encourages people to reach out and fight the dark by helping others understand that they are in the image and likeness of God, have and worth and value that is beyond measure, and that we are created for love, and they are in fact, worth love, or lovable (amabilis).